What to expect on the General Election campaign trail on Monday
Here is your guide to the main developments in the General Election campaign on Monday.
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Your support makes all the difference.Here is your guide to the main developments in the General Election campaign on Monday.
– Power moves
The Conservatives are using a drop in the energy price cap to warn of a Labour “triple whammy” of job losses, higher taxes and poor investment which they claim would arise from the opposition party’s plans to boost green power.
The average household energy bill has fallen by 7% as of Monday after Ofgem lowered its price threshold in response to wholesale prices.
Labour said the change was no cause for celebration for the Tories, criticising Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho who it said “wants a round of applause even though energy bills are still hundreds of pounds a year higher for families than they were, and are forecast to rise again this autumn.”
Ms Coutinho said “only the Conservatives have a plan to protect our energy security,” while a Labour spokesperson highlighted the party’s plan to set up GB Energy, a new publicly-owned company to invest in homegrown clean energy so we can boost energy independence and cut bills for good.
– Starmer in the shires
The Labour leader will go on a whistlestop tour across south-east England as campaigning ratchets up a notch in the final days before the July 4 polling day.
He will speak to activists and take questions from the media out on the stump at three different locations near or in the Home Counties.
Sir Keir Starmer is urging the public not to “wake up to another five years of economic chaos” on July 5 as he hammers his message that a vote for Labour is a vote for change.
Labour is warning that “at the heart of the Tory campaign is the view that this is as good as it gets for the UK” after the Prime Minister said he thinks Britain is a better place to live now than it was in 2010, when the Conservatives came into power.
– Sunak takes ‘don’t surrender’ message to Midlands
Rishi Sunak is doubling down on his call for the public not to “surrender your voice to Labour”.
The Prime Minister has warned Sir Keir’s party would “change every rule” to consolidate power and make it harder to vote for a change of government.
The Tories are pointing to a series of tax rises which Labour has not ruled out, but which are not party policy, along with speculation about other measures such as a Europe-wide youth mobility scheme and granting votes to EU citizens, which are also not Labour policies.
They also suggest that if 130,000 voters currently considering a vote for Reform or Liberal Democrat voted Conservative, that would be enough to see off a Labour “supermajority”.
– SNP talks up hopes of better ties with EU
SNP leader and Scottish First Minister John Swinney will be out in the north east of the country.
Mr Swinney will say that the election in Scotland is a contest of values – with only the SNP offering the hope of a better future for Scotland and a chance for the country to rejoin the bloc.
– Lib Dem call for better grief support
Sir Ed Davey will continue his campaign in so-called “blue wall” seats in the traditionally Conservative heartlands of southern England.
He will promote a Liberal Democrat pledge to spend £440 million a year on supporting widows and bereaved children during their toughest moments.